Nicholas Ridley

Nicholas Ridley (1500-16 October 1555) was Bishop of Rochester from 1547 to 1550, succeeding Henry Holbeach and preceding John Ponet, and of London from 1550 to 1553, succeeding Edmund Bonner and preceding Bonner. He was burned at the stake for heresy in 1555.

Biography
Nicholas Ridley was born in South Tynedale, Northumberland, England in 1500. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Pembroke College, Cambridge, and he was ordained as a priest in 1525. In 1534, he became the senior proctor of Cambridge University, and he spoke heresy when he argued that the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) had no more authority than any other foreign bishop. Ridley served as one of Thomas Cranmer's chaplains before being made vicar of Herne in Kent in April 1538. In 1540, he became one of King Henry VIII's chaplains, and he became Master of Pembroke College in 1540. In 1547, he became Bishop of Rochester, and he had the altars in his church removed and tables put in their place to celebrate the Lord's Supper. Ridley helped Cranmer to compile the Book of Common Prayer and assisted in the removal of Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner from their church positions due to their Catholic views; in 1550, he became Bishop of London.

After the death of King Edward VI of England in 1553, Ridley supported the Protestant Lady Jane Grey when she took the throne for nine days in July, and he affirmed that Mary and Elizabeth were bastard children of King Henry, thereby removing them from the succession. However, Mary took the throne that same July, and she began to persecute Jane's supporters in 1554. On 16 October 1555, he was burned at the stake in Oxford, Oxfordshire.